Rack



Patented Mar. 31, 1925,

UNITED STATES isaiasi,

HARRY M. HAUN, OF SAN BERNARDINO,v CALIFORNIA, ASSGNO'R OF TWO-FIFTHS TOMARSHALL B. SARGENT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, AND ONE-FIFTH TO EDGARCORLETT, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

RACK,

Appiicaaon flied March 24, 1923, serial No. 627,375,

/ 10 @ZZ yw71 omy t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY M. HAUN, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Bernardino, in the county of San Bei" nardino and Stateof California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Racks, ofwhich the following is a specilication.

This invention rela-tes to racks, and particularly to a type of rackwhich when not in use will permit a flat working surface, thus in partconstituting a flooring, and which when .in service` may be in partraised to form channels as between other partsl of the flooring topermit flow of air therethrough and to any commodity or cominoditiesplaced upon the rack formed as aforesaid. The invention is particularlyapplicable for use in the well-known refrigerator or box cars in that itprovides for a free trucking space up to any point desired.

This invention entirely does away with the necessity of providing slats,and by so doing allows a greater volume of air to pass through thechannel portionsl of the rack. I provide a rack formed of a series ofunits and which units each comprise two or more members, with said unitsadapted to lie in the same horizontal plane when in one position, toform a flooring, and with a certain member or members of said unitsnecessary.

lVitli reference to application of the rack to refrigerator oi' boxcars, at the present' time the racks used are placed in the cai.' andupon the [ioor thereof, with coniinodig ties suoli as fruit, vegetablesand the like, contained in suitable crates, placed on said racks. lVlienthe commodities reach their destination the racks arev oftenremovedfroin the car, broken up, destroyed and seldom used a secondtime. In certain other cases racks-in refrigerator or box cars, when notin use, are detachably secured to the inside walls of the car, with theresult that space that might otherwise be utilized 'in in warehouses,storage plants,` boats, and in fact any place where a rack 1sV thestoring of commodities within said car is wasted. y f l A primary objectof this invention is to provide a rack which will vleave the insidewalls of the box or refrigerator cars free from extraneous objects, suchas racks.- v

The invention has for further objects the provision'of a rack which whennot in use will take up little or no space and which when not used as arack will allow' a free trucking space thereon.

lViththe above Aand otherobjects in View,A

the invention consists in the novel and useful provision, formation,construction, com# b'ination, and inter-relation of parts, inembers andfeatures, all asshown in one em'- bodiment in the accompanying drawing,de-` scribed in Athe following` statement,` and nally pointed out inclaims;

In the drawing: j Y y Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation of a boxcar incorporating oneforinof my invention; l v

FigureQ is a transverse' vertical section of a b-oX or refrigerator carandv showing a modified form of rack for use therein;

Figure 3 is a. fragmentary cross'sectional View on an 'enlarged scale,showing ,details of construction ofthe rackmember;

Figure L `is a. fragmentary view, 'certain parts being in sections, ofthe type of rack depicted in Figure '2; and,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary viewoiik an enlargedscale, 'and showing themanner in rack are inter-connected.

`Corresponding parts in all the figures are designatedv by the samereference characters.

which the various members lforming the Referringwith particularity tothe draw-` ing, A and Bdesignate rack ine'nfibers' adapted to beAincorporated within. a car C, which car is ofthe usuall construction,'that slioijvii iii the figures being of the'refrigerator"type rhavingthe usuall bulk headl l. "When va-` vrions commodities, such as bones.contain-` ing fruit, as illustrated at a, are to be stored Yin said carC for transportation, it is essential that a circulation rof air shouldbe maintained between the boxes f sovthat fruit or thelike'pmay be keptfrom' spoiling, and the boxes a are usually 'separated from each otherlby members 2, with thek lowermost boxes supported upon racks. In theshowing of the figures the racks-'A or B become i ico v" an integralpart of the car, and each part of said racks A or'B comprises twomembers, as Z) and c. The member Z9 may be attached to the car flooring3, or the rack may itself constitute the main flooring of the car C.However, in the structure shown, it is intended that the car should havethe usual. liooring 3 with a series of members b and c upon theliooring. T-he members and c, of which there are a plurality, arehingedly connected by means of hinges d, and one edge of each member andc is beveled, as shown at 4 and 5, and it is intended that a series ofmembers b and c should be provided within the can C, upon the flooring 3thereof, and spaced sufliciently from each other so that when themember-l c which is movable relatiy'e to the member b is also resting onthe floor, the beveled edge 5 of said member c will be adjacent to andco-operate with the bevel edge 4 of the neXt adjacent member b, as shownin the figures, particularly Figure 3. It will be noted that when themembers c are not revolved so as to rest upon the top surface vof themember b, as illustrated in Figure 3,

at 6, the members Z) and c form a smooth working or top surface, asshown at 7, Figure 1. It is therefore an easy matter to truck upon lsaidsurface, as it presents no obstructions, and the members c may be liftedfrom their position upon the flooring by the linger engaging a slightlyinclined recess 8 formed in each of said members c, so that any one ofsaid members will revolve about the pivot point of the connecting straphinges al into the position illustrated at 6. A suiiicient number ofmembers c are revolved so as to rest upon their connected member b toform a rack such as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and it is to benoted that there will be a spacebetween each adjacent set of members band c, and that this space forms air openings or passage-ways for thecirculation of air. In other words, the racks are so related that theymay be used or brought into working relation, depending upon thematerial to be stored within vthe car and the amount to be stored. As itis essential that an-air space should exist bey tween the walls 9 and 10of the car C, the

the car andthe ends of the rack or racks.

As there would be considerable overhang adjacent the bulkhead-wall 11p,Ihave pro-` vided a member 12 which may be pivot-ally associated withthe floor 3 of the car, and adapted to. assume two positions. saidpositions allows the top surface of the member 12 to be Hush with therack members B when in inoperative position, that is, when all of themembers lie flat, and there are no spaces between the same. In otherwords, when every member lies in the same horizontal plane. The secondposition is illustrated at 13, and in said position the member 12 is ashigh as the combined height of the two members c and t. This will allowthe boXes a containing a commodity to rest upon the member 12 in eitherof its o positions. The structure shown in Figures 2 and 4 does notdiffer essentially from the structure of Figure 1, save and except thatthe rack members are arranged longitudinally of the car, and as before,a member 14, identical in detail with the member 12, will likewiseparallel the rack members B, and said members 14 are hingedly orpivotally associated with the car wall or walls, or the flooringthereof, and said members 14 may assume two positions. As shown inFigure4, this will allow an air space to exist between thevracks and sides ofthe car, and still provide a means whereby the commodities a may restupon the working rack members and the members 14. In the strueture foreither of the racks A or B, I may counter-sink the strap portions, as 15and 16 of the hinge d, with one portion of the vhinge bent downwardlyupon the bevel edge of one or both of the members b and c constituting aunit of the rack A or B. This will tend to add rigidity and strengthtothe rack structure. For the purpose of holdingthe members Z) to theflooring, the strap portions 16 of the hinge Z may extendk substantiallyparallel with the bottom face of the member Zn and be secured to theflooring by suitable securing means 17. In order that the members c maylie flat when it is intended that the unit members of the rack shouldlie in substantially the same horizontal plane, a surface of each ofsaid members may be grooved in part to accommodate that part ot' eachstrap 16 of the hinge or hinges Z connected o-r joined with the flooring3, as illustrated by dotted lines at 18 in Figure 8.

This structure does not materially add to the height of the flooring,and it would bc unnecessary to change the structure of the car in theleast particular. Furthermore, the space over the door of said box carwould be ample for trucking purposes, without the necessity of cuttingaway any portion above said door or reconstructing the car or its sidewalls.

It is obvious that changes and variations may be made in practicing theinvention, in departure from the particular showing,

One of but that all of said changes and variations may be made Withoutdeparting from the true spiriti of the invention, as set forth in theforegoing description and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

l. In car construction, a rack member adapted to be associated with theflooring of said said car, said rack being so formed as to present asmooth trucking surface when the rack is not in use.

2. The combination, With a car having the usual flooring, of a rackadapted `to be joined to said flooring, said rack comprising a series ofunits, each unit including tivo members, and said units being adapted toall lie in the same plane when in one position, certain of said unitsbeing movable and each unity being independently open.'

able.

4L. A rack including a series of units, each unit having relativelymovable members, said units cooperatingwhen in one position to all liein the same plane, one edge of each member comprising a unit which isbeveled, and said beveled edges of each unit cooperating When the unitslie in the same plane. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name tothis specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HARRY M. IIAUN.

Witnesses y D. F. CASTLE, IVM. OGLE.

